Better than carbon? Vaast A/1 Super Magnesium gravel bike review

Magnesium is making a comeback as the 5th material choice alongside carbon, aluminium, steel and titanium but we’ve been here before haven’t we? Vaast’s Super Magnesium is aiming to set the record straight with this new material and on paper offers several interesting benefits, namely price, weight and environmental positives, but what’s it like to ride?

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Content
00:00 Intro
1:00 Ride quality impressions
3:20 Magnesium history
3:59 Super Magnesium chemistry
4:25 Lighter than aluminium
5:23 Handling geometry
6:35 Frame details
7:42 Value for money
8:50 Environmental benefit
10:10 Better than carbon fibre?
11:04 Will it catch fire?
11:36 Likes and dislikes
12:07 Summary

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[anthonyharris]

Magnesium has many functions include helping with muscle and nerve function, regulating blood pressure, and supporting the immune system. This bike is good for you and is edible

[joearnold]

for mere mortals the A1 is hard to beat. Take the money saved from a carbon bike and buy another wheelset - at least that's what I did and have never been happier with a bike. You can always find cheaper, or lighter or faster but finding that sweet spot in the middle can be hard to find and the A1 did for me.

[robertg]

David you are spot on with your review. I have owned my VAAST for eight months and has quickly turned into my daily commuter bicycle.

[derekdudek]

I have one of the older ones on 650 wheels, it can do literally do anything - although it does excel on dirt / gravel track, it is very much at home on single track and really rough stuff. A little slow on the road but thats to be expected with a bike like this. That said for mixed surfaces its an amazing swiss-army bike.

[feliperenaultcsp]

nice bike, but the dog stole the show!

[kelvinlai-ping]

Love your doggy, need more of her/him in your great videos!

[simonalexandercritchley]

Ally is looking good and stole the show. Good to have more frame choices. I wonder if they fixed another problem with Mag frames....they can become brittle with age and lose strength.An issue if you keep bikes for 20-30 years or more.

[omfgyhs]

I'm a sucker for anything matte black so I'm absolutely loving the look of this bike, gorgeous. Think I'd swap the tyres out to some 42's though - nice review, thanks man.

[imagistatheimagista]

Hey David, thanks for this great video. You peak my curiosity so I took one of the Vaast bikes for a test drive and love them! In fact, I traded in my Cannondale Topstone 5 for the Vasst in this review. Although the Vasst is a bit heavier I found it much more nimble and much more responsive than the Cannondale. For somebody wanting a much more responsive and agile bike you simply can’t go wrong with the Vaast. Many thanks!

[Andy_ATB]

I'd have one for my winter/bad weather ideal.

[screwb]

It seems like this would be extremely well suited as a touring bike material. Near carbon weight but even more robust than aluminum allowing for tons of mounting points.

[Higuma_JPN]

David - looking at the rear wheel set-up I notice that the 37c tire comes VERY close already to the seat tube...

As a result, I foresee putting anything that is much larger - perhaps up to a 40c max - on the rear with such a small gap with the 37's already presenting a extremely tight gap when fitting mud guards - rain would likely be no problem but anything like mud or slushy snow could result in complications ( in the video you already have quite a bit of mud and debris built up in the chain stays and on the seat tube )... Thoughts ?

Keep up the good work - you're keeping us entertained and informed while the inclusion of your dog gives us something else to admire... Larger dogs like yours are problematic here in Japan but it's a beautiful pup... Cheers

[kennedystuart]

Cool bike. Not too bad. Pretty good bang for the buck. Great video as always. Love your side kick. 👍🏻👍🏻

[JPWookie]

Wonderful review, thanks I'm looking at the A/1 today Aug 2024. Question? How's the longevity been (rust, squeaks, quality of components, etc)? Thank you.

[GS-pkrd]

Interesting bike. I do have a soft spot for metal frames, I enjoy their 'springiness' and stiffness, the look of raw metal and the ability to take knocks, though have managed to crack alu, alu/scandium and ti road frames.. carbon has served me better I'm afraid to say. It's just a better material for going fast. I disagree carbon is dull (sure it can be, so can metal) - a highly stiff carbon frame is a joy to ride uphill fast, stomp on the pedals and watch it fly with zero flex, whilst still reducing some buzz from the road. Even the ti bikes I've loved have been enhanced by carbon seatposts and handlebars.

[JoeStranzl]

Does carbon really soak up the vibration as you say? I thought material like steel is about a smooth ride & carbon attributes are weight & stiffness.

[KoenMiseur]

To bad they don't have a roadframe, one without the weird chainstays!

[therealSIRBOOM]

If they would make all of their groupset models in this black, I'd buy one. I can't get the Rival in black. Why?

[paulkruglov]

How would you compare the VAAST to your Fairlight? Would you choose the Fairlight with a lower spec kit vs. a VAAST with a slightly upscale set up? Keep up the vids.

[RichThomas]

Looks like an interesting prospect. You did mention though some concerns (in the past) about rust - so I guess one would have to know a bit more about whether this is a real risk or not - especially over the long term. Is the jury still out on that front? Thanks